Category Biology/Biotechnology

New technique breaks the mold for 3D printing medical implants

A tiny and intricate biomedical structure being held on a fingertip of a gloved hand

How to use glue and a high school 3D printer to create tiny implants for tissue engineering. Researchers have flipped traditional 3D printing to create some of the most intricate biomedical structures yet, advancing the development of new technologies for regrowing bones and tissue.

The emerging field of tissue engineering aims to harness the human body’s natural ability to heal itself, to rebuild bone and muscle lost to tumours or injuries.

A key focus for biomedical engineers has been the design and development of 3D printed scaffolds that can be implanted in the body to support cell regrowth.

But making these structures small and complex enough for cells to thrive remains a significant challenge.

Enter a RMIT University-led research team, collaborating with clinicians a...

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Detecting Skin Disorders based on Tissue Stiffness with a Soft Sensing Device

The research team designs a simple, miniature electromechanical device for high-precision and real-time evaluations of deep tissue stiffness. (Photo source: Dr Yu Xinge’s team)

A research team has designed a simple electromechanical device that can be used for deep tissue pathology diagnosis, such as psoriasis, in an automated and non-invasive fashion. The findings will lay a foundation for future applications in the clinical evaluation of skin cancers and other dermatology diseases.

By putting a piece of soft, strain-sensing sheet on the skin may be able to detect skin disorders non-invasively and in real-time very soon.

The research is co-led by Dr Yu Xinge, Assistant Professor from CityU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, and scientists from and Northwestern University ...

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3 years Younger in just 8 weeks? A new study suggests yes!

Intervention group age change. Participants scored an average of 1.96 years younger than baseline (p=0.066). Of 18 participants included in the final analysis, 8 scored age reduction, 9 were unchanged, and 1 increased in methylation age.
CREDIT
Correspondence to: Kara N. Fitzgerald email: kf@drkarafitzgerald.com

A groundbreaking clinical trial shows we can reduce biological age (as measured by the Horvath 2013 DNAmAge clock) by more than three years in only eight weeks with diet and lifestyle through balancing DNA methylation.

A first-of-its-kind, peer-reviewed study provides scientific evidence that lifestyle and diet changes can deliver immediate and rapid reduction of our biological age...

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How to boost muscle regeneration and rebuild tissue

Induction of Yamanaka factors (OKSM) in muscle fibers increases the number of myogenic progenitors. Top, control; bottom, treatment. Red-pink color is Pax7, a muscle stem-cell marker. Blue indicates muscle nuclei.
Credit: Salk Institute

Clues about molecular changes underlying muscle loss tied to aging. In work that could one day help athletes as well as aging adults regenerate tissue more effectively, scientists increased the regeneration of muscle cells in mice by activating the precursors of muscle cells.

One of the many effects of aging is loss of muscle mass, which contributes to disability in older people...

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